In the fabrication of an integrated circuit on a silicon substrate a number of metal alloy layers are formed. Titanium nitride (TiN) films are used as barrier layers for aluminum metal lines. These barriers layers are necessary to prevent the unwanted chemical interaction of the aluminum metal lines with other layers in the circuit. Currently, hot concentrated sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide or a hot SC2 (HCl+H2O2+DIW) solution is used to wet etch TiN films. Both of these solutions will attach the silicon substrate leading to a roughening of the surface or the creation of voids. With the advent of the use of copper metal lines, tantalum nitride (TaN) films are finding increasing use as barrier layers for copper films. These TaN films often act as diffusion barriers preventing the diffusion of copper from the metal lines into other parts of the circuit where it would inhibit proper circuit operation. There is not a suitable wet etch process for removing TaN films from a silicon substrate. In addition, it is often necessary to etch these copper film in the presence of a patterned photoresist. Copper can be etched using a hot concentrated sulfuric acid or a hot SC2 (HCl+H2O2+DIW) solution. These solutions will attack the photoresist films in current use and therefore cannot be used in the presence of photoresist films. Silicon nitride (SiN) films are used extensively in the fabrication of integrated circuits both as part of the transistor structure and as a barrier layer or liner layers. Current techniques to remove SiN involve the use of phosphoric acid at temperatures as high as 160° C. As in the case of hot sulfuric acid, hot phosphoric acid will attack the silicon substrate. Fluorinated silicon dioxide (FSG) and TEOS are typically etched using HF solutions which can in some instances attack the silicon substrate. In each instance of the above discussed materials/metal-alloys it will be necessary to remove these layers from the silicon substrate without producing damage to the surface. This need might arise during the reworking of a silicon wafer through a particular processing sequence involving one of the above mentioned films. Reworking of a silicon wafer through a processing sequence is often necessary due to mis-processing of the wafer during the sequence. A need therefore exists for a wet chemical process that effectively and completely removes TaN, TiN, SiN, Cu, FSG, and TEOS from the surface of a silicon substrate without damaging said surface.